1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to user interfaces in a computing environment, and, more particularly, to a technique for supplanting Motif dialog boxes.
2. Description of the Related Art
One important aspect of any computing environment is the user interface through which a user interacts with a computing system. That the user interface is the mechanism through which the user actually controls the computing environment is only the most obvious reason for its importance. There are many, more subtle, reasons for the user interface's importance. For instance, the user interface may allow access to the lower levels of the computing system's architecture (e.g., the computing system's operating system) that control the computing system's inner workings. The user interface, therefore, potentially offers an opportunity for a rogue program or a malicious user to penetrate the computing system's security. From an economic standpoint, the user interface affects the usability of a computing system. Poorly designed user interfaces are difficult to use, while well designed user interfaces are easier to use. All else being equal, users generally prefer a computing system that is easier to use. The user interface can therefore significantly influence a potential user's buying decision.
Recent years have brought some standardization, although not necessarily uniformity, to user interfaces. One common user interface is the X-Window system, which is a public domain windowing and graphics system. There are several variants of X-Window systems, including Motif and OpenLook. Because X-Window is public domain, it is particularly attractive to users employing UNIX operating systems. Because UNIX operating systems are popular, many applications employ user interfaces such as Motif and OpenLook that are based on X-Window. Netscape Navigator™ and the Adobe Acrobat™ reader on UNIX systems, for instance, both use Motif dialog boxes to communicate with users.
However, because of concerns such as security and usability, vendors of computing systems may wish to alter the user interface of some applications. The vendor may, for instance, wish to restrict the fields of some dialog boxes in which a user can enter information. The vendor might also wish to completely suppress some functions invoked by a user through such a dialog box. The vendor may not have the right to alter the source code of the application to do this. Even if the vendor does have the right, this presents problems since the application is now a “custom” piece of software. This may be undesirable if the vendor prefers to simply buy applications directly from their third party manufacturer and install them, or if the vendor does not wish to provide maintenance for the software once the computing system is sold. Preferably, the vendor could use some mechanism that modifies the interaction between the user and the application without having to modify the application itself. However, there is no such mechanism currently available in the X-Window environment.